Outside the palace gate, the official on duty at the Dengwen Drum Court came out to inquire about the matter after hearing someone beating the Dengwen Drum.
"Who's beating the drum?" There was a hint of majesty in the official's voice.
The person who struck the drum was a young girl in plain clothes with a haggard face.
She knelt on the ground and said in a tearful voice, "My name is Su Yuan, and I am from Sujiazhuang, Yizhou."
"What is your grievance?"
Su Yuan held up the bloodstained complaint with both hands, "I want to sue Princess Yuehua for forcibly seizing my husband and killing my entire Su family."
The official paused while recording, frowned, and asked, "Do you have any evidence for this?"
"Everyone in Sujia Village can testify that Princess Yuehua sent someone to openly capture my husband on my wedding day."
The official asked again, "Then did you know that if you sue a royal relative, you will be punished with thirty canes regardless of whether the grievance is true or not?"
"I know."
Princess Yuehua is the emperor's half-sister and now lives in Yizhou City.
Seeing that Su Yuan was young and frail, the official kindly warned him, "If you hit him with thirty sticks, you might die."
Su Yuan's eyes were firm, and she said resolutely: "If I can use my death to get Princess Yuehua executed, I will do it without hesitation!"
The official saw that she had made up her mind, so he stopped trying to persuade her and called the bailiffs to prepare for the execution.
Thirty strokes of the cane, each one landing heavily on Su Yuan's body, her plain clothes were soon soaked with blood.
Every time the stick fell, her body trembled in pain, but she always bit her lower lip tightly and said nothing.
After the execution, Su Yuan was already dying, but she still held on to her last bit of strength and said with difficulty: "I... everything I said is true... I beg you to... make a decision for us common people."
Seeing her tenacity, the official could not help but admire her. He took the bloody petition and said, "Go back and recover first. I will report the matter truthfully.
However, you should know that suing a royal relative is not an easy task, and no one can predict the final outcome."
"I...have nowhere to go back to, and I can't...leave this place." Su Yuan weakly raised her hand and grabbed the official's clothes. "As long as...Princess Yongle participates in the trial of this case...I will definitely be able to successfully redress my grievances."
The reason why Su Yuan risked his life to file a complaint to the emperor was because he heard about what happened in Luoyang.
The official looked down at Su Yuan, who was lying on the bench, with deep eyes. After a while, he corrected her faintly, "Princess Yongle is now a princess."
Su Yuan was stunned. "Yes, I hope Princess Yongle will participate in the trial of this case."
"I will report your request. As for whether Princess Yongle will participate in the trial, that is not something I can decide."
After saying this, he hurried away with the complaint.
Su Yuan lay on the bench waiting, closing her eyes weakly and praying that Jiang Yueyang would be able to hear her case.
In the Drum Court, after reading Su Yuan's petition, the judge decided to report it to Emperor Yuan immediately.
＊＊＊
In the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
Jiang Yueyang listened to Emperor Yuan and the civil and military officials discussing state affairs with boredom and felt that time was passing so slowly.
Just when she wanted to ask Xiaogua if he knew who had beaten the drum before, a young eunuch hurried in from outside the hall.
The young eunuch knelt on the ground, "Your Majesty, urgent news from the Drum Court."
"What's the matter?" Emperor Yuan asked with a frown.
"Your Majesty, some people have accused Princess Yuehua of forcibly seizing men and killing people in her family."
As soon as these words were spoken, all the civil and military officials were shocked!
Jiang Yueyang instantly perked up. Who has the courage to sue the royal family?
Emperor Yuan suddenly stood up and asked solemnly, "Who is outside the Dengwen Drum Court?"
"Your Majesty, it's Judge Song."
"Let him come in and answer the question."
The eunuch responded and left. After a while, Judge Song walked into the hall.
He walked to the middle of the hall and stopped, and was about to kneel down to salute, but was interrupted by the voice of Emperor Yuan.
"Who sued Yuehua?"
Judge Song pulled out Su Yuan's complaint from his sleeve and handed it over. "The person who is suing Princess Yuehua is Su Yuan, a native of Sujiazhuang in Yizhou."
Li Fuquan went downstairs and brought up the petition to present to Emperor Yuan. After reading it at a glance, Emperor Yuan's face became so gloomy that water seemed to drip out of it.
Judge Song said, "Your Majesty, Su was willing to be punished with thirty canes in order to sue Princess Yuehua, and is now waiting for the result under the hearing drum. In addition, Su hopes that Princess Yongle will hear the case."
Emperor Yuan and all the civil and military officials looked at Jiang Yueyang upon hearing this. That Su Yuan actually dared to let Jiang Yueyang try the case, so the injustice was most likely true.
Jiang Yueyang raised her eyebrows in confusion. Why did Su Yuan want her to try this case?
The next moment, Jiang Yueyang caught a glimpse of Emperor Yuan staring at her. She mistakenly thought that Emperor Yuan felt that Princess Yuehua's incident had something to do with her, so she stepped out to clarify: "Your Majesty, please allow me to report this. I do not know that Su Yuan."
As soon as Emperor Yuan heard this, he knew she had misunderstood. He looked back at Judge Song and said in a deep voice, "Judge Song, go down and bring the person in immediately. I want to try this case myself."
"promise!"
Judge Song took the order and left. Not long after, the dying Su Yuan was carried in by the imperial guards.
Jiang Yueyang was shocked, [Oh my god! He is seriously injured! Why does one have to be punished with thirty strokes of the cane before suing a royal relative?]
[Because the status of a royal relative is precious. The host is now a princess. If someone wants to sue you in the future, they will have to be beaten with thirty sticks first! ]
Perhaps having heard Jiang Yueyang's inner voice, the unconscious Su Yuan opened his eyes with difficulty.
She looked around her surroundings with blurry vision, as if looking for someone.
Jiang Yueyang: [This rule is too unreasonable! If someone dies after thirty strokes of the cane, how can we seek redress?
No wonder no one dared to sue Prince Rong before. If he wasn't determined to die, who would dare to sue? 】
Su Yuan followed the sound and finally saw the petite Jiang Yueyang.
She only raised her hand weakly towards Jiang Yueyang, and called out with an unsteady breath, "Princess...Princess."
Jiang Yueyang subconsciously walked over and held her hand, "Your Majesty is here, you can tell him if you have any grievances. The emperor is guilty of the same crime as the common people, and your majesty will handle it impartially."
Su Yuan was a smart man. He immediately understood the implication of Jiang Yueyang's words. He nodded and looked at Emperor Yuan who was sitting above.
She couldn't cause trouble for the princess.
Su Yuan pulled out a bloody token from her bosom and said, "Your Majesty, I, Su Yuan, am suing Princess Yuehua for forcibly seizing a man's husband and killing the entire Su family."
"My brother and I escaped by chance and rushed to the capital to file a complaint. Princess Yuehua sent people to hunt down my brother and sister, and my brother was killed on the way." Su Yuan continued.
Emperor Yuan could tell at a glance that the token in Su Yuan's hand was Princess Yuehua's personal soldier token.
Su Yuan explained: "This token... was taken from those who were chasing me."
The Left Prime Minister walked over, took the token and looked at it, "Your Majesty, this token is indeed owned by Princess Yuehua."
Emperor Yuan did not question it. He looked at Su Yuan with deep eyes and said, "Tell me the whole story in detail."
"That day, the common woman and her soon-to-be husband went to the city to buy the necessary items for the wedding..."
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